Tag Archives: Walking in Gower

“Let’s make one thing clear” Darren Green informed our small group in a windy Rhossili car park, “it is the DimExcuses end of summer walk, always has been and always will be” referring to our traditional September walk now in its seventh year. “A big Gower walk it maybe, but that is note its name”. I stand corrected.

The DimExcuses end of summer walk is a nine hour, 17 to 19 mile walk (dependent on the tide) from Rhossili Bay along the South Gower Coast to the village of Bishopston. It takes in the South Gower bays of Rhossili, Fall Bay, Mewslade, Port Eynon, Horton, Slade, Oxwich, Tor Bay, Three Cliffs, Pobbles, Heatherslade, Hunts Bay and Pwll Du. You get to see it all, you will definitely find your epic as the hours and miles mount up.

This year we were a small contingent, made up of founding members Darren Green and Paul Jones, regular walker Ade Price, myself and the new feet of Chris Bidder and Rachel Bidder. As always we start off on the first bus out of Swansea into Gower.

Arriving in a windy and cloudy Rhossili it is a obligatory group selfie before going cross country to get a full fry up in Port Eynon.

It was certainly a windy one.

There is always something new every year on the end of summer walk and this year it was the breakfast. We have always loved the Captains Table cafe in Port Eynon, trying to stop there each year for a fine breakfast. This year it is in new hands and the breakfast was outstanding. The Captains Table (facebook page here) does a range of breakfasts, small, large, veggie small, veggie large and the almighty Captain’s Breakfast. We all had a Captain’s Breakfast, setting a record for the most Captain’s Breakfast ordered in one go, DimExcuses.

Now powered by a Captain’s Breakfast we head off under the clouds along the Wales Coast Path to Oxwich. Sometimes it was a straight and narrow path, a very narrow path.

We passed another group using a map. No maps for us, just keep the sea to your right. That seemed to work as we successfully got to Oxwich. A quick pint of Gower Gold to wash away the remains of that breakfast and then we were off across the beach.

The beach was quickly followed by a climb over Great Tor to Three Cliffs.

The tide was in so we had to climb over Three Cliffs too.

From Three Cliffs it was a walk to the South Gate Club for some more Gower Gold before the final leg through Pwll Du Bay and finishing in The Joiners Arms in Bishopston for several pints of Three Cliffs Gold.

With weary feet and big smiles we finished the epic walk and narrowly avoided the heavy rain. You can see all the photos from our adventure in the gallery below. We are all looking forward to the DimExcuses end of summer walk next year. You should come, DimExcuses.

I already posted a walk similar to this in my Gower winter walks: Gower Winter Walks 2. Pennard Castle and Three Cliffs Bay Circular Route. I GPS tracked that trail with Everytrail and you can see that map here. This time I took a slightly different route dropping into the valley and then climbing over Three Cliffs as the tide cut me off before I could get through the cave. This time I tried tracking my walk with Strava Run. I am trying the Strava android application because it keeps a running total of my walking allowing me to compare what I am doing each week and month. You need to sneakily tell the app that you are running as it won’t add walks to your on-going results. I am also trying this app for GPS tracking my mountain bike rides.

I went very wide around the golf course towards the Sandy Lane chalet settlement. If you haven’t been here before aim for the large water tower and be careful passing the golf course. There are white stones to follow but these can be hard to see.

Once you are by the water tower head towards Pennard Castle. The view is magnificent. At this point I chose to go down into the valley by following the very steep and very sandy path. This is not the route for anyone with mobility issues, instead follow the boardwalk as outlined in my winter walk.

You should also check the tide because the valley floods at high tide and before that the tide can cut off the cave through to Pobbles Bay. I didn’t get this right, so I had to climb up to Three Cliffs and go over the top. There is a path to do this but it is hard to find. It is in a gully in the cliff and is definitely one for the more agile walker.

This did allow me to get some great photos of Three Cliffs Bay before moving around into Pobbles. These two bays really are Jewels of Gower and highlights of the coast in Wales. The sea is still quite cold from our unseasonal spring, 8 degrees and this was the Sunday of the first may Bank Holiday! But that didn’t stop Sadie the spaniel going for a dip.

Pobbles Bay funnels to a narrow storm beach and there is one central path back to Pennard Golf Club where it is a short road walk back to the start. This is definitely one of my favourite DimExcuses Gower walks.